


The Keeper of His Heart

by maddie_amber



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-24
Updated: 2014-07-24
Packaged: 2018-02-10 05:03:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2011932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maddie_amber/pseuds/maddie_amber
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seven days, seven drabbles.  Writen for Bethyl Week on Tumblr, day four for the prompt word "Enchanted" and the song lyrics from <i>Glass</i> by Thompson Square.  Rick knows Daryl has fallen under Beth’s spell, even if Daryl doesn’t know yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Keeper of His Heart

**Author's Note:**

> (This one was tough. Because “enchanted” and TWD are not two things that mix well in my brain.)

Rick always considered himself an observant man. He prided himself on being aware of his surroundings and the people near to him. After Daryl had rejoined him, Michonne and Carl, Rick sensed the change in his closest friend. Although he never verbalized his loss it was written in his every action. Rick could see it in spells of brooding silence as they walked the tracks, Daryl constantly scanning the surrounding trees, ground and tracks for any sign Beth might have passed before them. Though never a word was spoken, Rick knew with utter certainty Daryl was going to find her alive or he was going to find her mindless walking corpse. Regardless how long it took, he would never rest until he knew Beth’s fate. 

Days later, when she was finally located and reunited with the group, Daryl became her fiercest guardian. Though as they all soon discovered, she no longer needed a protector. Along the road between the prison and Terminus, they had all been tested, tried, tormented and shaped into newer, stronger versions of themselves. No one showed that change more than Beth Greene. And while she would never revel in violence, she was no longer Beth-To-Be-Defended. Through the agony at the prison to the triumph after Terminus she had come into her own. She had proven her metal physically, but had remained steadfast at her core. Beth had truly become Hershel Greene’s daughter, in ways that Maggie never would. For she now was the bastion of her father’s hope, clarity of vision and eternal optimism. She had gained wisdom beyond her age. And along the way, whether the two of them knew it or not, she had become the keeper of Daryl Dixon’s heart. 

Rick was not sure yet whether Daryl was aware of the change in his relationship with Beth but it was becoming increasingly obvious to the rest of the group. They had all seen the signs. When Beth and Daryl were together he was always within inches of her, a hand on her arm or the small of her back. But more astonishing, he would not flinch when she touched him. Daryl, who fastidiously avoided casual contact, not only did not withdraw but seemed to her welcome her touch. 

To some this odd couple was an unfathomable pairing. Daryl Dixon was no enchanted prince to be transformed by the kiss of a beautiful princess. He made no pretense about who he was. What you saw was what you got - grime, callouses, tattoos, rough edges and all. But Rick knew that beneath his coarse exterior beat a heart as giving and willing to sacrifice as any he had ever known - a giant heart and a loyal soul. All those many months ago in Atlanta they had all assumed he was a simple minded rube because of the way he followed his brother never arguing against Merle’s whims. No one had been willing to look beneath the hardened shell he had built to defend against hurt and disappointment. 

Yet dear, sweet, Beth had cracked the façade. She might not have transformed Daryl into a prince, but she had created a bond that Rick was almost envious of. A bond that needed no words. And even though Daryl might not be able to verbalize those ties, he was as truly and securely entwined in Beth Greene’s spell as any man in love could be.


End file.
